The annual meeting of the American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP) offers an outstanding venue for interdisciplinary researchers in chemistry, biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, targeted screening, and therapeutic development to meet and discuss the latest advances in natural products research. The 2006 meeting will be held in Crystal City, Virginia, from July 22-26, at a venue totally accessible to those with disabilities, and sign language will be offered if requested. It is anticipated that there will be 450-500 attendees, including about 200 students and postdoctoral fellows, with substantial participation by women and minorities. The meeting will highlight the continuing vital role played by natural products in the discovery and development of novel and more effective therapeutic and preventive agents. The first of four symposia will focus the progress being made in increasing molecular diversity through the application of novel, state- of-the-art, synthetic and biosynthetic methodologies, while the focus of the third will be on the screening of natural products in molecularly targeted high throughput screens, and the role of natural products in the NIH Roadmap's screening and molecular libraries initiatives; an additional focus will be on how natural products interact with their molecular targets, and the crucial role this understanding plays in the discovery and development of targeted therapies. The second symposium will focus on clinical trials of herbal products being conducted by NIH-sponsored centers in the areas of cancer, women's health, depression and aging; in addition to efficacy evaluations, herb-drug interactions and clinical toxicology will also be emphasized. A fourth symposium will provide a forum for two outstanding young natural products scientists selected by the ASP Awards Committee to present the results of their research. Every effort is being made to include women and minorities as speakers and session chairs. This meeting will be especially appealing to those interested in the treatment and prevention of cancer, as well as those interested in the application of herbal preparations to the treatment of women's health and other serious health issues. The need to develop more selective chemotherapeutic agents, particularly for cancer treatment, and the need to establish the efficacy of herbal preparations, as well as their potential toxicities and interactions with conventional drugs, makes this meeting one of great relevance to the mission of the NIH and to public health.